During the years I have frequently been contacted by other beadmakers looking for the source of my tools and materials. I am happy to share this information. If you are looking for something that I don’t list here, please contact me and I will try to help you. With the exception of “Puffy Mandrels”™ and Lucite Cube Beadstands, which are made and sold by my husband, Neil Fabricant, I have no financial relationship with any of these entities. On the other hand, many of them are my dear friends after years of working together in the pursuit of glass beads!

The tools and materials in Creating Glass Beads can be purchased from:

• Arrow Springs – the primary source for tools and materials, they are my “go to” source. I buy virtually all my glass, dichro, frit, Thompson enamel and cool new metal enamel sifters from Arrow Springs.  I also bought my Nortel Mega Minor and both my kilns from them.  If they don’t sell it, they know who does, or they will try to make it for you! They also sell our Puffy Mandrels and the Baz Box.  www.arrowsprings.com
• Amnon Elbaz is an Israeli beadmaker and tool manufacturer. He originated many tools I use in my books. He also created the Baz Box. He can be reached through his wife, Robyn,   www.lbazcreations.com
• Blue Moon Glassworks is the source for the Creation Station seen in photos of my studio. www.austinbluemoon.com
• Cattwalk Lampwork Tools – my brass grooved marver and some of my presses are made by Cattwalk. www.cattwalk.com
• Sears – the source of my pin punch set (don’t you love hardware stores?!)
• Zooziis – the source for my cabochon mandrels and some presses. Amy, the owner, also has the rights to manufacture the lovely parallel masher I use in both my books. You would have to take that up with her! www.zooziis.com  Another great source of cab mandrels is www.noodlesaurus.com
• Inland Swap Top – this is the small flat lap, convertible to a saw, that I use in both books. I have recently upgraded to an 8-inch ASW (from Arrow Springs).
• Murrini – I buy murrini when it catches my eye, Frantz Art Glass and Arrow Springs both sell it. On-line I buy it from Murano Millefiori at www.muranomillefiori.com
• MicroBeads – these are sold by That Frit Girl who also sells lots of other cools glass and copper cutout shapes like the ones in the bead on the cover of  Creating Glass Beads. www.thatfritgirl.com
• Hollow Steel Chopsticks – I buy them in bulk and like a brand called “Joyce Chen”. If you can’t find them, email me and I usually have a few pair I can sell, since I sell them in some of my classes.
• Mirroring/silvering chemicals – The source that has the bulk of the necessary materials is Angel Gilding which sells silvering for mirrors and beer bottles. In Creating Glass Beads I go through how to tailor the method for use in hollow beads. www.angelgilding.com The plastic supplies are widely available. Ours come from Becton, Dickinson and Company, which has a catalog at www.catalog.bd.com 
• “Puffy Mandrels” ™ – we sell these here on our site, and they are also available from other retail outlets. When buying this style of mandrel, look for very high quality steel, which will hold up to the repeated heating and cooling and won’t easily pinch if you use a tool to grab them when removing your bead.
• Butterfly Punch – this punch is used in the Silver Butterfly Bead and is made by Martha Stewart. I bought it at Michael’s.
• Vinyl Resist – the vinyl I prefer is made by C-Thru and I buy it at Jerry’s Artist Outlet in West Orange, NJ. It is available in craft, art and drafting supply type stores.
• Wire bending pliers – these are available from sources that sell wirework supplies. I buy them from vintagesuzanne on Ebay. She can be reached by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (If you haven’t seen the new crimping tool, which crimps and rounds all in one squeeze, talk to Suzanne about that too!)
• Resin – for one step UV cure resin, I use Magic-Glos by Lisa Pavelka, available at www.lisapavelka.com . I also bought the curing light from them. The two part resin I use is Ice Resin, from www.objectsandelements.com
• Frit Crusher – the crusher I use in my book  is high quality steel which results in less contamination. It comes with trays and a little scoop. It was made by Michael Hineline of Dungeon Glass Works. His ebay id is dungeonglassworks and his email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Sandblasters – this topic is almost too big to address here! Our favorite sandblasting set-up (which is designed for frequent and heavy usage) comes from www.etchmaster.com The owner, Ruth Dobbins, knows everything there is to know about sandblasting! Email me to discuss the kind of set-up you might be trying to put together.